1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device at which a sheet conveying path can be switched when a sheet stacked in a sheet feed tray is sent-out, and when, at the time of double-sided printing, a sheet which is being conveyed along a sheet re-conveying path is again fed to an image forming section, and relates to an image forming device equipped with the sheet feeding device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a sheet feeding roller, which sends-out one-by-one sheets which are stacked in a sheet feed tray, is disposed in an image forming device such as a copier, a printer or the like. The sheet which is fed-out by the sheet feeding roller is conveyed through a conveying path to an image forming section, and an image is formed on the surface of the sheet. Further, a sheet re-feeding path, which is for, at the time when double-sided printing is to be carried out on the sheet, inverting the sheet which has passed through the image forming section once and re-feeding the sheet to the image forming section, is disposed in the image forming device.
In such an image forming device, at the time of sheet feeding, the sheets which are stacked in the sheet feed tray are sent-out one-by-one and conveyed to the image forming section. At the time of double-sided printing, the sheet conveying path must be switched such that the sheet is re-conveyed by the sheet re-feeding path and is fed again to the image forming section.
As a means therefor, for example, a re-feeding guide member is provided between the sheets stacked in the sheet feed tray and the sheet feeding roller. The re-feeding guide member is for re-feeding, to the image forming section, the sheet which is conveyed-in from the sheet re-feeding path. At the time of double-sided printing, the re-feeding guide member is disposed along the peripheral direction of the sheet feeding roller, and guides the sheet, which is conveyed along the sheet re-feeding path, to the image forming section. At the time of ordinary sheet feeding, the re-feeding guide member is rotated by a motor to the upstream side, in the sheet feeding direction, of the sheet feeding roller, and is withdrawn from the sheet conveying path. In this way, when a sheet within the sheet feed tray is sent-out by the sheet feeding roller, the re-feeding guide member does not interfere with the sheet. (Refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2004-85632.)
However, in the sheet feeding device disclosed in JP-A 2004-85632, when a sheet is to be sent-out from the sheet feed tray, there is the need for space for rotating the re-feeding guide member to the sheet feeding direction upstream side of the sheet feeding roller, and the need for a driving section such as a motor or the like for rotating the sheet re-feeding guide member. Therefore, the device becomes large, and costs increase.